Henk Neven - Press Reviews

Album: Auf einer Burg

Neven has an exceptional voice – perfectly controlled, ideal for German Lieder. It is hardly an exaggeration to think of him on the evidence of this fine disc as successor to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau… It is a long time since I enjoyed a disc of Lieder from a young singer quite as much as this, and I long to hear more from him.

Edward Greenfield, Gramophone, July 2011

He has a beautiful voice, flexible, rounded and warm, and sings, always in the middle of the note, with much intelligence and no affectation.

Lucy Beckett, International Record Review, June 2011

…An intelligent reading, a sense of dignity in the timbre, exceptional diction… Not only in [Henk Neven’s] voice but also in the interpretation there is a great sense of breadth with his flexible approach to the music. The musical conversation between Neven and his excellent accompanist gives extra sparkle. This is a CD that you will want to hear over and over again.

Thiemo Wind, De Telegraaf, April 2011

Here emerges a young baritone for the Lieder repertoire to take up the torch on the eventual retirement of Thomas Allen, Thomas Hampson, Wolfgang Holzmair, Simon Keenlyside and Thomas Quasthoff, all now in their fifties or beyond. Henk Neven possesses a lyric baritone with both resonance and sap in the tone, the ability to articulate text with clarity but without fussy over-emphasis… I am confident that he is on the threshold of a fine career.

Colin Anderson, Classical Source, 23 April 2011

Here’s a name to watch…Neven’s highly individual timbre is unlike any other lieder interpreter’s: he sings with astonishing technical finesse, verbal acuity and a sense of wonder in these pieces from Schumann’s annus mirabilis of song, 1840… Eijsacker’s virtuoso piano-playing only enhances this remarkable young singer’s outstanding debut.

Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, 17 April 2011